Grey Mare’s Tail, Scottish Borders
Marvel at Moffat’s spectacular waterfall and take a circuit high above Loch Skeen.
Explore one of the UK’s highest waterfalls on this fantastic circuit of Loch Skeen. The 60m high, frothing fall of Grey Mare’s Tail looks exactly like its name, particularly in winter with a touch of frost or even fully covered in snow and ice. Mountaineers have been known to ice climb up it when fully frozen! And if you’re walking this route in spring or summer, look out for ospreys fishing on the loch, as well as ring ouzels, or even peregrine falcons. You might also surprise a feral goat as you climb up and around the steep but grassy sides of Firthybrig Head and Lochcraig Head, two high but easy mountains (763m and 801m respectively). On the way down, there’s a little history at Hogg’s Well, named after the Ettrick shepherd James Hogg (1770-1835).
He was a poet and novelist who left school aged seven to become a shepherd, but eventually became famous in the Edinburgh literary scene. Maybe you’ll feel inspired into poetry after a walk in this
beautiful winter scene.
1
NT185145 From the car park, walk towards the Tail Burn (river) and cross it via the footbridge. Follow the path as it ascends north then north-west to the Grey Mare’s Tail waterfalls viewpoint. There are several parts to the falls, so you can almost see the whole 60m long waterfall from the start of this path and then admire the deep gully as you climb steeply up on a good path under the crags of Deacon Snout.
2
NT182150 Continue following this good tourist path with the river on your left, all the way up (more gradually now) to the outflow at Loch Skeen, fording several smaller tributaries along the way. Pause here to admire the loch surrounded by steep cliffs to the west. You might be lucky enough to catch sight of an osprey fishing in the loch in spring/summer.
3
NT174159 Turn left to cross the outflow of Loch Skeen and skirt the southern banks of the river with the crags ahead. Keep these crags well to your right as you climb the south-eastern spur of Firthybrig Head (766m) across grassy, sometimes boggy ground. As the cliffs curve round to the north, continue in the same direction (north-west) to the wide, open summit of this first peak.
4
NT158171 From Firthybrig Head, curve round to the right and walk in a northeasterly direction across the moorland, down and up again to the next hump, Lochcraig Head (801m). Follow the fence/ wall on your right and keep the cliffs surrounding Loch Skeen well to your right beyond. The summit is marked with a small cairn.
5
NT166177 From Lochcraig Head, it’s time to start the nice grassy descent, easy on the knees. Head east at first, then curve round to the right (south) to follow the fence/wall down to the eastern shores of Loch Skeen where a short pause is in order to admire the small pool of Hogg’s Well, named after the Ettrick shepherd, poet James Hogg to whom there’s also a statue in nearby Moffat. From here you can see the tourist path you followed up the valley, so turn left to descend back via the Grey Mare’s Tail for one last look at the spectacular falls before ending in the car park.